


Between Life and Death

by wuvpil



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-06 18:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17944940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wuvpil/pseuds/wuvpil
Summary: You closed your eyes, trying to shut down the consecutive "Park Yeonji" shouting in your brain. The class couldn't hear it, Yoon Dowoon doesn't even seem to notice, but it was vivid and loud inside your head. It has subsided, finally, but when you opened your eyes, a lady in hanbok bowed down to you, saying, "Prince Kim Wonpil has already arrived."





	1. Chapter 1

I woke up looking through the eyes of another girl.

My heart started to race as I looked at the reflection of the girl who had long, jet-black hair flowing across her hips. Her eyes were black, and she was petite. She was a beauty, that was for sure.

She wasn’t “me”. It’s difficult to comprehend, much less explain, but I was looking at a mirror – it was supposed to be showing my reflection, but it wasn’t.

Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me? Why is my reflection someone I don’t know?

“Lady Min Seo.”

The door opened and revealed a woman around her mid-30’s. She was wearing a hanbok, and then I realized, I was also wearing the same thing. But hers was less flowy, and it very much looked more comfortable than what I was wearing.

I looked around the room; there was no one else. Could the “Lady Min Seo” be me? Was she referring to me?

She bowed down before proceeding inside the room. “Prince Kim Wonpil has already arrived.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, I just wanted a Prince!Kim Wonpil AU. Then I had a dream about going back in time, maybe because of I just recently watched Scarlet Heart Ryeo. So if there are some similarities...
> 
> PS.: I don't know much about Korean history.

Kim Wonpil.

_Prince_ Kim Wonpil.

I was supposed to meet this prince, or rather, he went to my place to _see me_. As I stepped out of the room, with my gown on and my makeup ready - as if I were to attend a Halloween party - a man's back was the first thing that greeted me.

His shoulders were broad, and his jawline was undeniably sharp. As my shoe clicked on the floor, he turned around - and I was able to see his eyes, which seemingly looked like a fox's. His thin lips formed a courteous smile and he bowed before me.

"Lady Min Seo," he greeted. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Prince Wonpil has encountered some inconvenience, but will be here shortly."

This man isn't Kim Wonpil, then. But his looks could've made anyone mistake him for a prince. I, for one, was deceived at first sight.

"Musn't have been some traffic, right?" I joked.

"Tu-ra... Tu-ra-fi..." The man smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Lady Min Seo, but I have not encountered such word."

"What do you mean you haven't-" I cut off my own sentence with a gasp. My eyes averted from the man to my surroundings before touching myself - to explain things clearly, my hand ran across the fibre that I was wearing and my fingers trailed over my facial features - I pinched myself, but didn't wake up.

I wasn’t dreaming, yet this didn’t look like it’s a prank or I’m in a shooting place. The man doesn’t know the word “traffic”, I’m wearing a hanbok and there’s no air-condition.

Do I have the right to call myself crazy when I’m starting to think that I _did_ go back in time?

The man’s curious eyes rested on me, observing all of my movements and the wondering faces that I made. I locked eyes with him, pleading silently for answers, and before I could even voice out my questions, a voice intervened.

“Younghyun!”

Both of our heads - Younghyun’s and mine - turned around to look at the new arrival. He was smiling widely, showing off his teeth that could easily blind a person more than the sun could. He was practically jumping his way to us, his waist-long hair combed yet his clothes smudged with mud.

“Pardon, Lady Min Seo...” Younghyun gave the new arrival a look, then continued, “may I introduce to you, Prince Kim Wonpil... the fourth prince.”

_This_ is the Kim Wonpil the lady has told me about? The one who purposely went here to see me? Sure, his looks were OK - more than “OK”, I may say, and I couldn’t even put it nito words - but why were his clothes smudged with mud?

Kim Wonpil looked at the dirt on his outfit before approaching us. “I’m sorry for this mess, Lady Min Seo, but it is with greatest pleasure that I am able to meet you today.” He nodded after.

I curtsied even though I’m not sure I’m doing things correctly. “Likewise, Prince.”

“I shall then await you at the gates, Prince Kim,” Younghyun said. “I hope you will enjoy your walk with Lady Min Seo.”

“Yes, Younghyun,” Kim Wonpil replied. “I’ll make sure that this walk with my potential future bride-to-be will be lovely.”

. . . . . .

My ears must have been deceiving me.

All of this - it’s a hallucination. Or maybe I just didn’t pinch myself hard enough.

“Ow!” I shrieked, then rubbed my arm repeatedly, hoping that the pain would subside immediately. Prince Kim gave me a look, and I tried to hide my pain and stupiditiy with a smile. “Ah, it’s nothing. An ant must have bitten me. I beg your pardon.”

“It’s fine, Lady Min Seo,” he said, his eyes looking at my arm. Unlike earlier, he wasn’t that bubbly, and he seemed to be in deep thought. “Why don’t we start this conversation with you telling things about yourself? You’ve grown silent. People in this neighborhood told me you’re talkative. Even my brother - Prince Jinyoung, the third prince - told me you had lots of stories to tell.”

I pursed my lips. I am not that talkative. I only was when I’m around people I’m close with; Prince Kim and I definitely aren’t “close”. And I don’t have stories to tell - tey’re all locked up at the depths of my brain, since the only thing I’m able to think about now is _How the fuck did I end up here?_

My eyes widened in realization. “Pardon me, Prince, but are you serious when you addresed me as your “bride-to-be”?”

“Wasn’t I?”

_Oh, fuck off_ , I wanted to say, since this day has been quite bad, but I didn’t bother. I didn’t want another problem to be added to the pile. Cursing a prince? Err.

“It’s just, I don’t recall being informed about this,” I said, pouring every ounce of politeness I had into the sentence. “I did not know of such thing, you know? Can you... enlighten me, please?”

“Ah.” He looked at the canvas - lovingly painted with blue - above us. He pursed his lips before starting with, “My father - the King - hopes that all of his sons are to be married before his expected death.”

“He’s old already?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “Continuing... I, the fourth prince, is the only unmarried one left. I am to be married next month, but with no bride yet. My father, being the kind parent that he is, gave me the opportunity to choose within three ladies.”

“And I’m one of them,” I blurted aloud. “But why me?”

“I’m not sure of that myself, Lady Min Seo,” he sighed. “The king said Prince Jinyoung reccomended you; he thought we were a good match. But...”

“But...?” I prompted.

“No... no... no, it’s nothing,” he stammered. “There is nothing else.”

“If you do not wish to marry me, then it’s all right,” I assured him. Heck! I don’t want to get married myself. It’s unfair if I’m forced to marry - I’m already being forced to _be here_.

Kim Wonpil’s eyes widened at my sentence. “Pardon?”

“I told you, it’s all right. I’m fine with it. Marraiges shouldn’t be forced, anyway.”

He stopped walking, so did I. Our eyes were glued to each other, but we didn’t really have any secret message to convey. With the close proximity we had, though, I was able to look at his facial features upclose. How much of a deity he looked; he held features much, much more worthy than a prince’s.

“I should’ve thought of that the moment you started leading me to the gates instead of walking me around your neighborhood,” he said, then smiled toothily, just like he did when I first saw him. “Thank you for your time, Lady Min Seo. I suppose Younghyun has already prepared the horses by now.”

I didn’t realize I walked him to the gates, though.

_Oh, my god._

This is so clever!

I shook my head before I curtsied. “It is with greatest pleasure that I’m able to talk with you today. I hope... you’ll find your bride soon, to fulfill your father’s wish.”

He smiled at me warmly before waving goodbye.

A dust got inside my eye before I could even wave back, and I closed my eyes out of reflex. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at my room, my brother Park Sungjin staring down at me, telling me I should get my ass out of my bed for school.


	3. Chapter 2

I took in the surroundings around me. Yes, I’m in my room, in my bed - even with pajamas on. Sungjin has woke me early enough to get ready for school. I stared at my twin before getting a mirror to myself, if I’m really me - or by some miraculous means, I’m still inside “Lady Min Seo’s” body.

“No, you don’t have zits,” Sungjin annoyingly said. “Now get ready for school or else, we’ll be late. By the way, Jae’s already here. Join us for breakfast after you prepare.”

My ears rang. If Jae’s here and Sungjin is nagging me to hurry up, then I’m certan that I’m back at the present. Did I really go back in time? I could have. I mean, the... the things I experienced... with Prince Kim and all... it all felt too real. It couldn’t have been “just a dream”.

I shook the thought off my head and prepared as fast as I could. When I went downstairs, they were having P&J and OJ for breakfast; their conversation about basketball, and how they still badly needed a bassist and keyboardist for their band.

I waved my hand to catch their attention. “G’morning.”

“Hey, look, it’s the ex,” Jae said, smiling teasingly at me. He had a bit of jelly on the corner of his lips. “Wait, _my_ ex, I meant.”

“Oh, shut up,” I said. Jae and I have tried dating before, and being with him was nice - Dowoon, who was sort of my other brother, liked him. Sungjin, who was my _twin brother_ approved of him. Jae and I were well together.

But now I believe there’s such thing as “fallng out of love”. We disagreed on _too many_ things and I thought we would’ve been better off as friends. That was also one thing we disagreed on; breaking up - for me - was the solution, while he thought it would just make matters worse.

“You’ve got jelly,” I said, pointing at the side of my lips. “Remove it before you bring it to school.”

He puckered his lips at me. “Wipe it for me like you used to.”

“Ha-ha,” I faked laugh, sitting with them. It isn’t new - him teasing me about our past, like he hasn't moved on yet. I'm sure he has. With all the girls swooning over him, he has a lot of fishes to choose from. _Plus_ , after the breakup, he was a wreck. Now he’s better.

“So... no luck for bassist? Or keyboardist?” I asked.

Sungjin shook his head. “No one’s interested. They all said they’re prioritizing academics over everything else, since it’s our last year of senior high.”

“That’s bad,” I said. “So will you continue the band?”

“Of course we will,” Jae said, looking at me intently. “There’s a Park Jaehyung in the team; and I don’t just give up on goals I want to achieve.” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I had this urge to look away and never make eye contact with him for the rest of the day.

Which is, sort of, impossible for the three of us. Unless we’re really cross with each other.

I cleared my throat and focused on my sandwich. “Well, I wish you luck, then.”

. . . . . .

For the first class of the day, I have Yoon Dowoon with me. He was using his pencil as a drumstick while he listened to the teacher, whilst I got distracted by Your Highness Kim Wonpil at the back of my mind instead of the noise he created.

The noise was a distraction at first, and I even had an argument with him about it back in middle school, but I’ve gotten used to it, so it blended as a background noise. I was now usually distracted by my thoughts - this time, my thoughts were about Kim Wonpil.

“Yeonji,” I heard someone call my name. I looked over Dowoon who was listening attentively to the teacher. And the voice didn’t look like it belonged to him. “Park Yeonji.”

I looked at my classmates seated behind me - they were all too focused, and the voice didn’t seem to belong to them.

_“Princess Ji Woo.”_

The beating of my heart doubled inside my chest. It wasn’t calling me anymore, but I was still certain the voice belonged to only one person. It was distant and weak at first, but now its voice was increasing. But it still looks like I was the only one hearing things.

_“Yeonji. Park Yeonji,”_ it said, again and again, like a chant.

I closed my eyes shut in the hopes of removing the noise out of my head, and when I snapped it back open - I was looking at Lady Min Seo, but not through a mirror. She was talking to me, she was talking about Prince Kim.

I gasped. “La-Lady... Lady Min Seo!”

“Why, yes, it’s me, Princess Ji Woo,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I knew you stopped listening to my story about when I was _halfway_ through... I hate you.”

“I - I beg your pardon,” I said politely. My hair was now flowing across my hips again, and my complexion was much, much more lighter. Sure enough, I’m in another person’s body again.

Lady Min Seo addressed me as “Princess Ji Woo”. So that’s it? I’m a princess now?

What happened to Dowoon? Me attending class? How about Sungjin and Jae? I’m supposed to eat meat with them after school, and now I’m here, traveled back to time again - and I absolutely have _no_ idea of what’s happened to my body in the present moment.

“Do you wish to marry Prince Kim?” Lady Min Seo asked. “‘Cause I certainly _do not_. I’m not sure of what happened when we met, but he decided to not marry me, so I conclude that everything is good.”

“Yes... yes,” was the only thing I’m able to say. I stood up, my mind a bit fuzzy because of the events. “If you’ll excuse me, Lady Min Seo.”

“What’s gotten into you? Only Min Seo is fine,” she seemed to be reminding me.

I faked a laugh. “I was just joking around, Min Seo. But - ah - I do have to excuse myself now. I have other matters to attend to.”

“You’re wishing to be married to Prince Kim, don’t you?” She asked before I could even take a step. _Boy_ , she _is_ talkative. Or is she really close friends with Princess Ji Woo that she’s able to talk this much?

“How did you come up with that?” I asked.

“You’re going to meet him today, are you not?” She said. “And the ‘other matters to attend to’ is you prepping up,” Min Seo even arched an eyebrow.

“Well...” I don’t really wish to be married. I don’t know. What does Princess Ji Woo feel? “I’m not certain of it. But I’d at least want to look presentable in front of the fourth prince.”

I looked around the room I was in. No lady entered to fix my makeup. No one volunteered to fix my dress, which was surprising, considering that I’m inside a body of a princess.

The room looked extravagant. Sure enough, it was mine (or Princess Ji Woo’s). It was decorated with all the expensive furniture, but what stood out are paintings of... Princess Ji Woo. In the paintings, she was wearing different hanboks, different hairstyles... but it still captured the grace that she seemingly always carried. That’s how it looked. She was posed, and _lovely_.

Whoever painted this - he or she did it splendidly, and I could say that all of the paintings were did by one person only. Just a hunch. Maybe the real Ji Woo was whispering it to me somewhere in the depths of my soul.

Before I could even fully excuse myself to Min Seo, a knock interrupted.

_“Princess Ji Woo, Prince Kim Wonpil is here to see you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST TIME TRYING TO WRITE ON AO3, and I swear to the gods, I couldn't understand this. But okay!


End file.
